Systems and methods for automated image quality based diagnostics and remediation of document processing systems

• US 6,665,425 B1
• Filed: 12/16/1999
• Issued: 12/16/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Nichols, Stephen J., Richenderfer, Elizabeth A., Sampath, Meera
• Primary Examiner(s): Au, Amelia M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLER, MARTIN E
• Application Number:
  US09/464,596
• Time in Patent Office: 1,461 Days
• Field of Search: 382/112, 700/79-82, 399/8, 399/9, 399/15, 399/18-20, 714/25, 714/30, 358/1.15
• US Class Current: 382/112
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/502 relating to the structure of the control menu, e.g. pop-up menus, help screens
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5079 for maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/55 Self-diagnostics; Malfunction or lifetime display
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00067 on recording medium
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00109 Remote control of apparatus, e.g. by a host
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00118 using fuzzy logic
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00002 Diagnosis, testing or measuring; Detecting, analysing or monitoring not otherwise provided for error detection, error correction or monitoring in digital computers or digital computer components G06F11/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00005 relating to image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00013 Reading apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00029 Diagnosis, i.e. identifying a problem by comparison with a normal state
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00031 Testing, i.e. determining the result of a trial H04N1/00029 takes precedence; using test signals for transmission mode changing H04N2201/33371
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00045 using a reference pattern designed for the purpose, e.g. a test chart
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00063 using at least a part of the apparatus itself, e.g. self-testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00076 locally
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00079 remotely
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00084 Recovery or repair, e.g. self-repair
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00408 Display of information to the user, e.g. menus

Abstract

During the operation of a document processing system machine and job data are collected from a document processing system. Optionally, machine information, both for the specific machine and population based data are acquired from a database or server. Having accumulated the job data and machine data, the diagnostic inference engine performs an analysis to determine the initial diagnosis of the document processing system. After obtaining the initial diagnosis, the system determines the test patterns to be printed and the image quality tests to be performed. The system then prints test patterns, and scans the patterns to determine image quality parameters and/or to automatically identify image defects. Optionally, image defect information may also be provided by the customer or the service engineer via a user interface. Next, a diagnostic inference engine uses the results of the image quality analysis to refine the initial diagnosis. Then, the diagnostic results are output, stored, and optionally displayed to, for example a customer or a customer service engineer. Based on the diagnostic results, and if problems are found, the machine enters a repair sequence. In particular, the machine can request either a customer or a customer service engineer repair action, or, alternatively, enter an auto-correction or an auto-calibration mode to repair itself. Upon completion of one or more, or any combination, of these repair actions, the machine verifies its operation and again checks to ensure the repairs have been completed successfully.

Claims

1. A system for automated image quality based prognostics, diagnostics and remediation of at least one document processing system, comprising:

a data acquisition and diagnostic processing circuit that collects and processes data;

a diagnostic inference engine circuit that analyzes the data to obtain an initial diagnosis, the initial diagnosis including a list of potential defects in data corresponding to at least one image; and

an image quality analysis circuit that identifies at least one defect in the data corresponding to at least one image based on the list of potential defects, wherein the diagnostic inference engine circuit refines the initial diagnosis based on the at least one identified defect.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one sensor that supplies the at least one machine data to the diagnostic inference engine circuit.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one virtual sensor that supplies the at least one machine data to the diagnostic inference engine circuit.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one user interface that communicates a diagnostic result determined by the diagnostic inference engine circuit.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein a repair planning circuit determines a repair action based on the refined initial diagnosis.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the repair planning circuit communicates at least one of repair information to at least one customer, a parts request to an appropriate entity, a service request notification to a customer service engineer and an instruction to autonomous repair entity.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic inference engine circuit analysis is based on at least one of a threshold analysis, a statistical analysis, a signature analysis, a trend analysis, a timing analysis, an event sequence analysis, a pattern analysis, an image processing technique, a quantitative and a qualitative state estimation technique, a model based diagnostic technology, a look-up table, a neural network based analysis, a fuzzy logic based analysis, a bayesian network, a causal network, a rule based system analysis and an expert system.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the data is at least one of component level data, system level data, event level data, job level data, control data, diagnostic data, environmental data, machine usage data, machine configuration data, single-machine value-added diagnostic data and population diagnostic data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the data and a fleet-wide population statistic data is obtained from at least one of a knowledge server database and a memory.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an image determination circuit that identifies an image to print; and

a printer that produces the at least one image.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a scanner that digitizes the at least one image; and

an image recognition circuit that verifies the identity of the at least one image.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an autonomous repair circuit that controls an autonomous repair.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the autonomous repair circuit establishes a communication with the at least one document processing system, the communication including at least one of transferring monitoring information, interrogation information, control information, repair information and results of the refined initial diagnosis.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one controller that supplies the at least one machine data to the diagnostic inference engine circuit.

15. A method for automated image quality based prognostics, diagnostics and remediation of at least one document processing system, comprising:

obtaining data pertaining to the at least one document processing system;

analyzing the data to obtain an initial diagnosis, the initial diagnosis including a list of potential defects in data corresponding to at least one image;

generating at least one image;

performing an image quality analysis of the data corresponding to the at least one image based on the list of potential defects; and

refining the initial diagnosis based on results of the image quality analysis.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining a repair action based on the refined initial diagnosis.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising forwarding at least one of repair information to at least one customer, a parts request to an appropriate entity, a service request notification to a customer service engineer and an instruction to autonomous repair entity.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the initial diagnosis and the refined diagnosis are based on at least one of a threshold analysis, a statistical analysis, a signature analysis, a trend analysis, a timing analysis, an event sequence analysis, a pattern analysis, an image processing technique, a quantitative and a qualitative state estimation technique, a model based diagnostic technology, a look-up table, a neural network based analysis, a fuzzy logic based analysis, a bayesian network, a causal network, a rule based system analysis and an expert system.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the data is at least one of component level data, system level data, event level data, job level data, control data, diagnostic data, environmental data, machine usage data, machine configuration data, single-machine value-added diagnostic data and population diagnostic data.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein one or more of the data and a fleet-wide population statistic is obtained from at least one of a knowledge server database and a memory.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining the at least one image to print; and

printing the at least one image.

22. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

scanning the at least one image; and

verifying the identity of the at least one image.

23. The method of claim 15, further comprising verifying the at least one document processing system'"'"'s operation after completion of a repair.

24. The method of claim 15, wherein the image quality analysis detects at least one image defect including lines, bands, streaks, spots, mottle, halo, splatter, light images, dark images, blank images, deletions, background ink contamination, graininess, ghosting, skew, registration defects, color balance, color registration, color variation within a page, print-to-print variation, inboard-outboard variation, loss of a tone-reproduction, line width, edge width, line density, line edge, line shape, sharpness, contours, reload and pixel-to-pixel placement defects.

25. The method of claim 15, wherein the image quality analysis is based on at least one of Fourier transform analysis, histogramming, edge detection, 1-D projections, segmentation, classification, artifact detection, FIR filtering, morphological analysis, wavelet analysis and statistical analysis pattern recognition techniques and neural networks.

26. The method of claim 15, further comprising initialing an autonomous repair.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein initializing the autonomous repair includes establishing a communication with the at least one document processing system, the communication including at least one of transferring monitoring information, interrogation information, control information, repair information and results of the refined initial diagnosis.

28. An information storage medium that stores a program, executable on a processing device, for automated image quality based prognostics, diagnostics and remediation of at least one document processing system, comprising:

instructions for obtaining data pertaining to the at least one document processing system;

instructions for analyzing the data to obtain an initial diagnosis, the initial diagnosis including a list of potential defects in data corresponding to at least one image;

instructions for generating at least one image;

instructions for performing an image quality analysis of the data corresponding to the at least one image based on the list of potential defects; and

instructions for refining the initial diagnosis based on results of the image quality analysis.

29. The information storage medium of claim 28, further comprising instructions for determining a repair action based on the refined initial diagnosis.

30. The information storage medium of claim 28, further comprising instructions for forwarding at least one of repair information to at least one customer, a parts request to an appropriate entity, a service request notification to a customer service engineer and an instruction to an autonomous repair entity.

31. The information storage medium of claim 28, wherein the initial diagnosis and the refined diagnosis are based on at least one of a threshold analysis, a statistical analysis, a signature analysis, a trend analysis, a timing analysis, an event sequence analysis, a pattern analysis, an image processing technique, a quantitative and a qualitative state estimation technique, a model based diagnostic technology, a look-up table, a neural network based analysis, a fuzzy logic based analysis, a bayesian network, a causal network, a rule based system analysis and an expert system.

32. The information storage medium of claim 28, wherein the data is at least one of component level data, system level data, event level data, job level data, control data, diagnostic data, environmental data, machine usage data, machine configuration data, single-machine value-added diagnostic data and population diagnostic data.

33. The information storage medium of claim 28, wherein one or more of the data and a fleet-wide population statistic is obtained from at least one of a knowledge server database and a memory.

34. The information storage medium of claim 28, further comprising:

instructions for determining the at least one image to print; and

instructions for printing a hard copy of the at least one image.

35. The information storage medium of claim 28, further comprising:

instructions for scanning the at least one image; and

instructions for verifying the identity of the at least one image.

36. The information storage medium of claim 28, further comprising instructions for verifying the at least one document processing system'"'"'s operation after completion of a repair.

37. The information storage medium of claim 28, wherein the image quality analysis detects at least one image defect including lines, bands, streaks, spots, mottle, halo, splatter, light images, dark images, blank images, deletions, background ink contamination, graininess, ghosting, skew, registration defects, color balance, color registration, color variation within a page, print-to-print variation, inboard-outboard variation, loss of a tone-reproduction, line width, edge width, line density, line edge, line shape, sharpness, contours, reload and pixel-to-pixel placement defects.

38. The information storage medium of claim 28, wherein the image quality analysis is based on at least one of Fourier transform analysis, histogramming, edge detection, 1-D projections, segmentation, classification, artifact detection, FIR filtering, morphological analysis, wavelet analysis and statistical analysis pattern recognition techniques and neural networks.

39. The information storage medium of claim 28, further comprising instructions for initializing an autonomous repair.

40. The information storage medium of claim 39, wherein initializing the autonomous repair includes establishing a communication with the at least one document processing system, the communication including at least one of transferring monitoring information, interrogation information, control information, repair information and results of the refined initial diagnosis.